1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for use in the setting, or reduction, of a fractured distal radius.
2. Background Information
The fracture of the distal radius is one of the most common human fractures, occurring in as many as 350,000 people per year in the United States alone. The application of an extension force and lateral depression for reducing a fracture of the distal radius is well known, having been described in the 1901 edition of Gray's Anatomy in the following manner, “The treatment consists in flexing the forearm, and making a powerful extension from the wrist and elbow, depressing at the same time the radial side of the hand, and retaining the parts in that position by well-padded pistol-shaped splints.”
Conventional methods for reducing a fractured distal radius require that the physician or surgeon must be helped by an assistant during the process. Two or more people are required to apply the extension force to the hand into a configuration providing an additional extension force at the site of the fracture, and to further manipulate any bone fragments or separated sections into position. What is needed is a convenient fixture for applying such forces during the process of setting this type of fracture, so that a physician or surgeon can reduce the fracture without requiring the help of an assistant.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,705 describes a support fixture for setting a fractured distal radius includes a housing having a strap for fastening the fixture to the patient's forearm, a sliding section, sliding within the housing as a screw is rotated, and a pivoting section extending from a distal end of the sliding section. The sliding section also includes a structure for supporting the patient's wrist. The distal end of the pivoting section includes a pair of fingertraps. Two of the patient's fingers are held in the fingertraps, while an extension force is applied between his forearm and hand through the rotation of the screw, and while his hand is twisted by adjusting the angle of the pivoting section to increase the gap between fractured sections of bone, causing reduction of the fracture to occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,291 describes a hand traction surgical table having an adjustable surgical table frame. An arm board having an upper surface and a lower surface is mounted on the surgical table frame, thereby providing an operating surface for surgical procedures on the wrist and forearm. A pulley is mounted on the surgical table frame, and a reduction force applying cable is mounted through the pulley. A finger retention device is mounted at a first end of a cable and a force applicator is mounted at a second end of the cable so that a predetermined reduction force can be applied to the patient's hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,120 shows the use of a device including a weight, a pulley, and fingertraps to hold a patient's arm extended, reducing a distal fracture of the radius during an operation installing, with a number of screws and blades extending into the bone, a plate spanning a fracture of the distal radius. What is needed, is a convenient means to support the wrist, from below and from a side, in a manner that the angle of the wrist can be controlled during the setting of such a fracture, and, for example, during the installation of a plate spanning a fracture of the distal radius.
A number of other patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,554,915, 5,545,162, 5,741,251, and 6,197,027 describe external fixation frames which are used, for example, for immobilizing bone segments adjacent a fracture or joint. Again, what is needed is a convenient means to support the wrist in a manner that the angle of the wrist can be controlled during the installation of an external fixation frame.